Secret Ability to Fly
Donation protected
Secret Ability to Fly is a cumulative 35-year project rooted in the personal origin story of Devaki Murch, an Operation Babylift adoptee and a survivor of the C-5A plane crash.
During the collapse of South Vietnam in 1975, President Gerald Ford ordered the evacuation of Vietnamese orphans from Saigon in the face of a massive North Vietnamese offensive. This mission, coined Operation Babylift, began April 4, 1975. It evacuated more than 3,000 orphans throughout the month before the Republic of Vietnam fell. (1)
The Lockheed C-5A Galaxy (68-0218) plane used for the Operation departed Saigon-Tan Son Nhut Airport at 16:03. Twelve minutes after takeoff, there was (what is reported as) an explosion and the lower rear fuselage was torn apart. The locks of the rear loading ramp failed, causing the door to open and separate from the plane causing a rapid decompression. Control and trim cables to the rudder and elevators were severed, leaving only one aileron and the wing spoilers operating. The crew wrestled at the controls, managing to keep control of the plane with two of the four hydraulic systems out. The crew descended to an altitude of 4,000 feet on a heading of 310 degrees in preparation for landing on Tan Son Nhut's runway 25L using only one aileron and the wing spoilers.
About halfway through a turn to the final approach, the rate of descent rapidly increased to 4,000 feet per minute. Seeing they couldn't make the runway, full power was applied to bring the nose up. At 50 feet, the throttles were set to idle and the C-5 touched down in a rice paddy. Skidding about 1,000 feet, the aircraft again became airborne for a half mile before hitting a dike and breaking into four parts. The cargo compartment with 149 orphans and attendants was completely destroyed. There were three casualties in the troop compartment. In total 138 of the 314 souls died in the accident. (3)
I was on that plane.
Through the years, there have been front page news stories, magazine articles, documentaries, websites, books, and social media about this story. I knew there was a bigger narrative that needed to be told, it was so much more than a personal memoir.
I have always felt that I had this Secret Ability to Fly. It is a superpower one possesses after defying death. And I have defied death more than once. I was rescued from a horrible war before I could talk and was fortunate to be cared for in several orphanages. I survived a horrific plane crash. I was hit by a double tanker semi truck carrying gas. There is power in the miracle of survival.
However, I realized that the superpower is not actually from the act of surviving.
The superpower comes from the energy, love, and support from those around us that give us, the survivors, this ability to fly and thrive. It is the nurturing of the caregivers in the orphanages. It is the skill of the pilot and crew who landed the plane and pulled us out of the wreckage. It is the love of my family. It’s those who supported me unconditionally when life got hard- really, really hard. It’s people who believe in and trust me when I have ‘ideas’ and provide the venues, resources, and reality checks to make them a reality. Love has power. I feel blessed by every ray of sunshine and every drop of rain. I realized it is gratitude. The Secret Ability to Fly blossoms from gratitude and resilience.
I have had the great privilege to meet a few other survivors of Operation Babylift plane crash. We all share this Secret Ability to Fly. As we approach the 50th anniversary of this monumental event, it is time for the deeper narratives of those affected to come to light. It is time to shine the light on the Fliers and their stories.
That is our story.
Your contributions will help us share it.
PROJECT PHASE 1 (2024)
The initial project expense is connecting with adoptees and individuals that participated in Operation Babylift. This includes caregivers, members of the military, family, friends, Vietnam Veterans, news correspondents, authors and others. Contributions will help to ensure gatherings, social media, personal outreach, and networking can reach as many in this community as possible.
Brand Development
Website and Social Media, domain, development, hosting, creative assets. Google workspace (annual). Adobe creative suite subscription. Marketing materials, postcards, business cards, display materials, printed pitch decks, portable scanner, general office supplies.
Launch
The initial launch of the project will be on April 14 at the Orphans of War adoptee gathering in Boulder, Colorado. Attending adoptees as well as family and friends will be presenting their experiences and sharing their stories. The goal of this event is to personally make new connections and contributions to the Secret Ability to Fly website and social media pages. Flights & accommodations for team (3 people) to capture video and still content and introduction of project.
#secretabilitytofly #operationbabylift
Research (2024-2025)
Gerald R Ford Museum and Library: The Shirley Peck Library is one of the largest repositories of Operation Babylift materials.Contributions will allow me and other researchers to review the material and archives of adoption documentation, records and files previously unreleased. These documents are links to many of the adoptee's history and will be the key details that tell the Operation Babylift story. Expenses will include visits to adoptees and others that participated in Operation Babylift.
Winter 2025
Gathering of the Secret Ability to Fly. Participants and contributors will meet in person and share stories and personal archives. Contributions made through this GOFUNDME will pay for the venue, catering, and flights for participants with stories that need to be heard who otherwise might not be able to attend. At this event, I will present a draft of a completed book of collected stories and images that illustrates the Secret Ability to Fly.
Spring 2025
Book ready for distribution as a soft bound book, for sale digitally and through an independent printing house. Contributions made through this GOFUNDME will go to the creating and publishing of this book.
PERSONAL NOTES:
In just the first week of working on bring this project to life:
I have found a new friend that was on the C-5A crash with me - and she lives one state away.
This morning we learned who gave her orphanage name to her in Saigon. We also learned who she was named after. She is 50 years old, and is just beginning to delve into her history.
I connected her with Sr. Mary Nelle Gage, who signed off her adoption paperwork in 1975. We are all meeting next week in Boulder, CO. This connection highlighted the urgency to share these backstories that Operation Babylift.
We lost Lt. Col. Regina Aune, Medical Operations Squadron commander. I looked back in my emails and realized I had reached out in 2001 and 2012 and didn't follow up. I wanted to thank her for her service and to let her know she is one of the reasons I am here today. She passed away the day I looked for her contact information to share this project.
I contacted the author of one of the most well researched books on Operation Babylift and have been given a full unreleased manifest of surviving orphans from the plane crash, and my name is on there. She gave me the Guidelines for Volunteers at the Presidio from April 1975 who provided intake for the incoming orphans.
I have spoken with the last surviving flight crew that was in the cargo compartment when the plane crashed. We realized that he brought me on to the plane and may have secured me in a way that saved my life. He was 23 years old.
This morning I was contacted by another plane crash survivor.
Just now I received an image from a friend who has a limited edition print of Bill Kurtis, photographer/reporter ”Babies in Paper Boxes”. I contacted Bill Kurtis.
He emailed me back.
This is just the beginning.
***
There is so much to be learned and discovered. Our individual experiences make up this shared story of Operation Babylift and now is the time to tell it. The Secret Ability to Fly is a project that commemorates Operation Babylift and the C-5A plane crash. It has been 50 years. This is our opportunity to reach out and connect with other adoptees and those that participated in these events that changed the course of our lives. The project needs your support to enable the research, outreach, and connections to be made through visits, trips and gatherings over the course of the next year.
The end deliverable: a beautiful book of our experiences as a shared story in the form of a quality softcover book.
Your support can make this project a reality.
Read letters and stories from adoptees, parents, friends and those who cared for us as orphans at www.secretabilitytofly.com
Sources:
A story has a life of its own and a life has its own story.
Whoa and let me tell you this story:
In the continuing saga of "You can't make this sh!t up" this project has literally revealed a new history for me straight out of the basement.
Last spring I wanted to find a way to say thank you to the people that were a part my my adoption and journey here. I went to an adoptee gathering in Boulder, CO and met other Operation Babylift adoptees. I connected with the volunteers and caregivers that took care of us when were in Vietnam and continued to support to this day.
I realized that a notebook of thank you notes was not what Mary Nelle Gage, the volunteer that cared for many of us and Bud Traynor, the pilot that landed the C-5 plane I was on wanted. They had boxes (or in Buds case, a trunk) of files, documents and reports that were lifelong collection of work, history and dedication. Adoptee files, agency records, military files that were not blacked out, legal records of the lawsuits, correspondence with adoptees and others. Both Mary Nelle and Bud are in their 80s and they needed to make a plan for their documents.
Im a planner. I plan things.
I started with The Record Book. The only notebook of Rosemary Taylors that held the details of the adoptees in one volume. It was handwritten. I have not found my self in the book. Then there was the list of survivors from the C-5A crash from Linda Boris - and there on the last page was me. This was the first time I had seen my name on a list that put me in that place and time. Wow.
It all got bigger and deeper from there. We started looking fo r
Organizer
Devaki Murch
Organizer
Boulder, UT